Politics

No Increased Chance Of Russian Nuclear Strike Amid Fiery Threats, Kirby Says

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Diana Glebova White House Correspondent
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There is no “indication” Russian President Vladimir Putin “has any intention” of using nuclear weapons in the war on Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday, maintaining that there has been no increased threats. 

Russian officials have repeatedly made threats of using nuclear weapons in response to a loss in Russia’s war on Ukraine, with Putin ally and former Russian Vice President Dmitry Medvedev saying, “the defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war.”

More Russian threats materialized after the U.S. promised to send Ukraine 31 M1 Abrams tanks on Wednesday. (RELATED: Biden Admin Approves The Delivery Of American Tanks To Ukraine)

The Daily Caller asked Kirby if the U.S. is seeing an increased chance of a Russian nuclear strike at the White House press briefing, but did not get a response.

Yahoo’s Alexander Nazaryan posed the question again.

“I heard one of my colleagues ask about tactical nukes. Could [the tanks] give them a pretext to use those other on the battlefield or against the Baltics, or Poland, or elsewhere?” Nazaryan asked.

“The propagandists and the Russian media can say what they will. The president put it very clearly today. These tanks pose no offensive threat to Russia,” Kirby began.

Nazaryan pressed on if there is any indication of an increased nuclear threat from Russia.

“We don’t have any indication Mr. Putin has any intention to use weapons of mass destruction, let alone nuclear weapons, tactical or otherwise. And we monitor as best we can,” Kirby said.

President Joe Biden hinted at the possibility of a nuclear strike from Russia in October, saying that Putin is “not joking” about the chance.

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden said at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The White House cleaned up Biden’s comments after the fact, stressing there is no indication that Russia is planning to use nuclear weapons.